Various types of apparatuses and methods may be used to condense a metal from a gaseous mixture including a vaporized metal constituent. Often, the gas is mixed with an inert gas or liquid carrier. If the inert carrier is a vapor, the mixture may be cooled adiabatically by expanding the mixture through a convergent-divergent nozzle to produce a condensate containing metal particulates. The metal condensate is generally self-discharged from the nozzle. If the carrier is a liquid, the gas may be condensed and dissolved in the liquid carrier and further processed to recover the desired metal constituent.
A system is needed that would ensure that substantially all of the condensate formed during the condensation process is removed or collected from the condensation chamber, thus reducing the amount of material wasted during the process. Additionally, a system is needed that would eliminate the need to mix the gas to be processed with an inert carrier of any nature.